Kermit Washington accused of scam

Chronicle News Services

Updated 9:40 pm, Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Prosecutors have filed charges against former NBA forward Kermit Washington, accusing him of embezzling about a half-million dollars in charitable donations meant to help the needy in Africa and spending it on jewelry, vacations and other things.

Washington, who was best known for his bone-shattering punch to the face of Houston’s Rudy Tomjanovich in 1977, was charged in an indictment filed in Kansas City on Monday. The indictment was unsealed Wednesday.

Washington played in the NBA in the 1970s and 1980s for several teams, including the Lakers, Celtics, San Diego Clippers, Trail Blazers and Warriors (six games in the 1987-88 season). He also was an assistant coach at Stanford in the mid-1980s.

Stanford took two matches to extra holes, but fell 3-2 to Washington in the finals of the NCAA women’s golf championships at the Eugene (Ore.) Country Club.

Lauren Kim nearly gave the Cardinal their second straight national title. Three down with three to play, Kim birdied the next two holes to stay in the match. She appeared to come up short, however, when Huskies freshman Julianne Alvarez needed only two putts from about 35 feet to win the match and give Washington the title. Alvarez left the first putt about 5 feet short, and her par putt for the win caught the lip.

Alvarez atoned for her three-putt bogey with two tough par saves to win the decisive match in 20 holes.

Baseball: Former Giants right-hander Tim Lincecum, who signed with the Angels last week, is scheduled to throw a simulated game Saturday before beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A Salt Lake on June 2 or 3, MLB.com reported. Lincecum, returning from hip surgery, last pitched in the majors June 27, a 12/3-inning outing for the Giants against Colorado.

Olympics: The president of cycling’s world governing body remains “very, very concerned” that the 5,000-seat velodrome under construction for the Rio Olympics will not be completed by the opening in August. Brian Cookson said most of the cycling venues are ready, including the BMX and mountain-bike courses, but the $43 million centerpiece facility has missed several deadlines, forcing the cancellation of a test event that was scheduled for March.

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